The embodiment relates to a wireless power transmission apparatus and a wireless power transmission method.
In general, various electronic devices are equipped with batteries and operated using power charged in the batteries. In this case, the battery is replaceable and rechargeable in the electronic device. To this end, the electronic device is equipped with a connecting terminal for a connection with an external charging device for charging the battery. In other words, the electronic device is electrically connected with the charging device through the connecting terminal. However, because the connecting terminal in the electronic device is exposed to the outside, the connecting terminal may be contaminated with foreign matters or shorted due to moisture. In this case, connection failures occur between the connecting terminal and the charging device so that the battery in the electronic device may not be charged.
In order to solve the above problem, there has been suggested a wireless power charging system. The wireless power charging system includes a wireless power transmission apparatus and a wireless power reception apparatus. In this case, the electronic device is implemented as the wireless power reception apparatus. In addition, the wireless power transmission apparatus transmits the power through a wireless transmission unit and the wireless power reception apparatus receives the power through a wireless reception unit.
A scheme of implementing a wireless charging system is typically classified into a magnetic induction scheme and a magnetic resonance scheme.
The magnetic induction scheme is a contactless energy transmission technique which applies current to one of two adjacent coils and generates electromotive force in the other coil through a medium of a magnetic flux generated from one coil, and the magnetic induction scheme may utilize a frequency of several hundreds of kHz.
The magnetic resonance scheme is a magnetic resonance technique which uses an electric or magnetic field without using any electromagnetic waves or electric currents, and the magnetic resonance scheme may have a transmissible distance of several meters or more and use a bandwidth of several tens of MHz.
If the wireless power transmission apparatus is constructed with the combination of the above charging schemes, the magnetic fields generated from the coils may interfere with each other so that the two charging modes may not normally operate. In addition, if the independent charging scheme is adopted, the high cost and degradation of components may be caused because installation and setting of dedicated hardware and software are required.